Charming Girl
by radioactive.bones
Summary: She was born in Charming, and raised there. Even after leaving, she came back, not that she went very far to begin with. Charming is her home, and she will always return to it, and to her family.


She had to admit, the guy was cute. But that wasn't something to stay for, Priestly sighed internally. The brunette moved silently around the stranger's room, picking up her scattered clothing, slipping it on as she found it. Except for her shoes, those she held in her hand as she made sure she had everything, then tiptoed out of the bedroom.

Carson Priestly- known as Priestly- was gorgeous, there wasn't any question about it, but she wasn't looking to settle down yet- at least not with her latest fling. She wasn't looking to settle down with really anyone, not anyone who wasn't apart of her life- apart of SAMCRO.

Ever since she was a little girl, after being brought under her 'father's' care, Priestly had been completely engrossed in the life of the motorcycle club, idolizing the bikers and their gritty and dark lifestyle. While she knew that, as a girl, she wouldn't ever be allowed to patch into the club, she knew there were other ways to be involved, and not just as someone's old lady.

As the brunette lent on the wall of the apartment building's hallway, waiting for the elevator, she smiled as she realized that she had done something no one thought she could- become a valued part of the club. Priestly was the official medic to the Sons of Anarchy MC, Redwood Original. At 27, she was already three years out of medical school.

Despite the dozens of offers of residency, she had chosen to return to her small hometown after graduation, and not take any job in the medical field offered to her. Instead, she took a job at Teller-Morrow Automotive, to every outsiders shock. But to her family, to the club, they knew why; Priestly had only attended medical school to be SAMCRO's personal doctor.

Priestly had been lucky- she hadn't paid more the fifty dollars out of her own pocket for her education. Her high grades, intelligence, and outstanding applications had secured her plenty of scholarships and grant money to attend school. With the exception of one book in her last year of school, the young woman hadn't paid for anything pertaining to her extended education.

Which was why she wasn't desperate for a high-paying medical job- she didn't have student loans to pay off, and was debt free, something very few people her age could say. But, she couldn't take all the credit for that, Bobby 'Elvis' Munson, the club secretary, had been a huge part of that. He'd not only helped her keep focused throughout school, but he'd helped find a majority of the grants and scholarships that had put her through school.

After exiting the apartment building and slipping into her car, Priestly pulled her phone out pocket of her jeans, groaning quietly as she saw that she had three missed calls and several text messages. Two missed calls were from her dad, and one was from Jax. The texts were from a variety of her family; one from her dad telling her to call him, one from Jax saying he was on his way back, Gemma sent one telling her to come over for dinner tomorrow, and she had two from Juice, one asking her about medical supplies and another to tell her her dad had passed out at the clubhouse.

The last one made her chuckle slightly. Tig Trager had taken her in when she was seven years old, rescuing from the hell that had been her mother. While he might not have been related to her by blood, Priestly had called him her dad since she was eight, and that hadn't changed in the almost twenty years since.

As she started to dig through her pockets, she heard an echoed thump, followed by a bright light. Looking over her shoulder, she watched as a mushroom of smoke and shade of orange and red joined the light. Priestly frowned, before swearing loudly when she realized where the explosion was coming from.

Snatching her keys out of her pocket, she shoved them into the ignition and turned the engine over, pulling out of the parking spot and speeding away from the Lodi apartment complex.

Two minutes after the unwelcome light show, her phone began ringing, and Priestly answered quickly, setting the mobile device on speaker, then telling the person on the other end immediately, "I saw it. I'm on my way right now. Was anyone up there?"

"I was just on my way back from it- where are you? I'm heading back to get Clay and whoever else," came her answer. Hitting a stop light, her eyes flicked down to the phone sitting on her leg to see the face of Jax Teller glowing back.

Moving her eyes back to the traffic light, Priestly told her longtime friend, "I'm in Lodi. Look, I'm going to head straight there, I mean, someone was guarding the place right? If he's hurt, I want to make sure I get to him."

Running her fingers through her messy chocolate locks, the medic bounced her left leg impatiently, mentally willing the light to turn green. When it finally did, she hit the gas, while Jax questioned her, "What the hell are you doing in Lodi? Look, Rodrigo is there, but we don't know who's responding to it. It might not be someone friendly."

While it may have sounded stupid to anyone else, Priestly was aware that Jax meant someone who was a friend to SAMCRO or at least didn't hate them. Chewing on her lip as she turned onto the highway, she argued, "Doesn't matter- and that's even more of a reason for me to go. If Rodrigo is hurt, he might not be able to control what he says. If I'm there, I can stop them from trying to question him."

Priestly grinned as she heard a frustrated groan on the other end of the line and finally the concession of, "Fine- I'll get the others and we'll be there as soon as we can. Call Gemma or someone if there's trouble." The line clicked as he ended the call. The brunette pressed a little harder on the gas and sighed, realizing that Jax had only let her win because he had needed to hurry. He must have called her from a gas station or something. Which meant the questioning of her being in Lodi wasn't over.

* * *

><p>She ran a hand through her hair, yet again, as she watched the firemen do their job. There was nothing that could be saved, it was just trying to get the fire put out so it didn't start a wildfire with the surrounding brush. Blue and red lights caught her attention, and Priestly pushed off the hood of her car and stand up as a County Sheriff's car pulled up.<p>

To her great relief, it was Vic Trammel who stepped out of the car, alone. Trammel was a 'friend' to the club, which was lucky for everyone. The man spotted the familiar woman and headed over to her first, asking her, "Were you here for it?"

Shaking her head, she explained, "No, I was in Lodi. I saw the explosion and headed here in case someone was hurt." Pausing to pull a strand of hair away from her face, she answered the unasked follow up question, "I got here right after the Fire Department. Far as they can tell, no one was hurt. I looked around, I didn't find anyone." As Trammel nodded, she added, "Problem is, we had a watchman."

The sheriff sighed, but nodded once more before heading over to the fireman who seemed to be in charge. Priestly watched them for a minute before returning to her previous position settled on the hood of her Impala and pulling her phone out of her pocket. She unlocked the device and selected 'call back', then held it up to her ear.

After a couple rings, she was greeted by, "Where the hell are you, Carson?" Priestly smiled slightly. Tig Trager was the only person who ever called her by her first name.

"I'm at the warehouse- well, the blazing remains of it. I'm fine, don't worry," she answered. She could practically hear the internal groan from the man who raised her most her life. There was no doubt in Priestly's mind that the man was silently cursing her 'proactive' approach to her job.

After a moment, he sighed, "Where the hell were you? I called you twice, and you're just calling me now?"

It was almost entertaining, to here womanizing Tig Trager sounding so parental. But to Priestly, she was used to the two separate sides of her father, it was nothing out of the ordinary. Shrugging despite knowing he couldn't see her, she told him, "I was in Lodi, visiting a couple of friends. I left my phone in my purse and didn't hear it. I was on my way back when I saw the explosion, so I headed straight here."

She was positive that Tig didn't even remotely believe her, but was choosing to pretend he did rather than know what his surrogate daughter had actually been doing. That was generally what happened after all. She heard the rumble of motorcycles over the line and her father concluded their conversation, "Right. Well, I'm just leaving with Clay, Bobby, and Jax. See you in a bit, alright?"

Priestly confirmed it and they hung up, her phone returning to her pocket as Trammel made his way over to her once again. This time, she didn't get off her car, crossing her bare arms instead, not sure if she should get her jacket out of the car. The heat of the fire was still rolling off and keeping the air warm, but there was a chill night breeze picking up at the same time.

Deciding to forego the jacket for the time being, she asked the sheriff as he reached her, "There's no saving anything, is there?"

* * *

><p>The roar of well-maintained motorcycles announced the arrival of the SAMCRO delegation, to see just how bad the damage to their property was. Priestly looked over to see her family arriving, before heading towards them. It was glaringly obvious that Clay's mode was terrible as soon as he saw the damage. So she went over to her dad first, giving him a hug before saying hello to Bobby as she greet Jax with a hug as well.<p>

Clay looked over his shoulder and asked her briefly, "You good?"

Nodding to confirm that she was fine, the greetings ceased as the five moved to the ruins of the warehouse, meeting Trammel as he told them the damage. Priestly didn't pay too much attention, already knowing everything. But she stayed with the club members, as was her unofficial duty.

Tig helped her over some debris as Trammel led them to the worst part of the fire. Two illegal immigrants had been trapped in the small basement of the warehouse. She'd already seen it, and chose to look away this time, not needing to see it twice. They were still dead, nothing she could do about it.

After giving Trammel his orders, along with a wad of cash to help pay off the fire captain and whoever else needed 'convincing', the five picked their way back out of the charred wood and warped metal, this time Jax helping Priestly over a particularly unsteady pile.

As the men got on their bikes, Clay gave the club members and medic their orders. "I'm heading towards East Bay. Sooner I tell Laroy, the sooner I can get us some time. Bobby, Tig, you're with me. Jax and Priestly, head to the lot. Tell Juice to find whatever shit he can on the Mayans. Call me if the cops get nosy."

Without any ceremony, the President of SAMCRO started his bike, and the others followed suit, Priestly getting into her car, and following the motorcycles off the lot that was now useless to the club.

* * *

><p>Priestly had seen some bizarre stuff at Teller-Morrow Automotive. She'd seen odd cars, even odder car owners, and weird stuff used to try and keep cars running by their cheap owners. But the deer halfway through the windshield, the front half actually in side the car, that was a new one.<p>

The brunette sighed and shook her head, before turning to Chibs and asking, "No chance you actually did your entire job this time and got paperwork, is there? Cause I've got a shit-ton of paperwork already."

The Scotsman grinned at the girl who was like his niece, then held out the clipboard that normally held unfilled forms, answering, "Because I know it's been a rough day for ya already, I did, in fact, get the yuppie to fill out the papers. Now ya can't say I never do my job, now can ya, CJ?"

She rolled her eyes but took the clipboard, shooting him a grateful look as she glanced over the paperwork quickly. And for once, it was all filled out. Even better, it was legible. Shooting a smile towards him, she half-conceded, "I just have to add an 'almost' before that never now."

Dodging a swat to her head, Priestly chuckled as she headed over to Jax, who was just getting off the phone with his mother. For the time being, at least, he seemed to be in a good mood. As she reached him, he asked, "You comin' to dinner tomorrow night?"

Priestly nodded and answered, "Gem would kill me if I didn't. Plus it's nice to not have to cook once and a while."

Jax chuckled and leant against the tow truck, Priestly following suit and they watched the SAMCRO prospect try to stomach cutting the deer up. It was highly entertaining for a few minutes, until Jax interrupted the watching silence, "So why were you actually in Lodi?"

While she hadn't expected to avoid it forever, she had been hoping to avoid it a little longer. Priestly sighed, messing with the metal clipboard as she told him, "Visiting a friend from school. I do have friends outside of here, y'know." Jax shot her a sideways look, but said nothing. She knew he didn't believe her, but obviously he didn't want to know the truth because he figured it out.

Technically, Priestly was being honest. That had been her original reason for being in the neighboring town, meeting a med school friend for drinks at a bar. But then her friend had left, having surgery in the morning, and she had found a cute guy to occupy herself with. So, technically, not lying, just a slight omission of words.

After another couple of minutes watching Half-Sack, Jax asked her again, this time on a totally different topic, "Any chance you wanna help me lug baby stuff out of storage?"

* * *

><p>Priestly was going to kill Wendy. Her temper was flaring as Tara explained what was going on. If she hadn't hated Jax's ex wife so much at that moment, she would have been upset over Tara being back. Tara moved to take Jax to the NICU, and he moved after her, only to say she didn't have to.<p>

It hurt, to hear Tara say she 'wanted to help his son'. She knew that girl and knew her being involved couldn't be good. But she shoved that aside as Jax stormed past her, telling his mother, "Ma, go with Tara, take Priestly with you." That caught the freckled brunette's attention.

Before she could speak, Jax was out the doors, and Priestly knew better than to go after him. Instead, she followed Gemma and Tara to the small room that held an incubator, and inside that was a tiny infant, struggling for his life. Priestly watched the newest Teller and felt her heart clench. More, now than ever, Carson Priestly wanted to murder Wendy-fucking-Case.

Swallowing her rage for the time being, Priestly turned to Tara and asked, her voice low, "Can I see Abel's charts?" She finally let her blue eyes move to meet Tara Knowles' and for the first time in eight years, the two women faced each other.

Priestly kept her face unreadable. Because, she knew that at that very moment in time, she had the better life of the two. Priestly had her entire family who loved her, who was there for her at all times. She was the one with no student debts, who had been out of medical school longer, and and she had done better in school. Tara had no more family left, she had left behind what could have been her family, she was a stranger in her own home town.

But at the same time, Priestly felt like she was about to resume a battle that she had lost before- a battle for Jax.

Finally, Tara was the one to break the stare-off, by handing over a file, surprisingly. Priestly flashed her a hint of a smile, before turning her attention to the pages. She wanted to be sick by what she read, because she realized there was nothing missing that she could point out, that Abel Teller really only had 20% at best.

Midway through the report, Tara asked Priestly, "Why'd you come back here? I heard you got offers from some of the most prestigious hospitals in the country, for residency." Pausing her reading, Priestly looked back to Tara.

Closing the folder, Priestly told her bluntly, "Because this is where my life is. My family, my friends, everything I care about is here, in Charming. I didn't go to medical school to be a doctor at a hospital, I went so that I had the ability to care for my family no matter what happened to them. I worked my ass off and graduated early so I could come back faster. Because I hated being away for so long. And no matter what happens to me, I will always come back here as fast as I can. Because this is my home."

Tara swallowed thickly, taking the folder that Priestly handed back to her, beginning to fold under the intensity of the taller woman's gaze. Finally, Gemma joined them and asked, "Can we go in and see him?" Priestly didn't flinch, her hard stare unmoving and just has strong, but Tara looked to Gemma, almost looking thankful for a reprieve.

Clearing her throat, the surgeon told them, "U-uhm, no, not yet at least. Until he's stable, medical personnel only." Priestly's eyebrows rose slightly, and Tara glanced at her, then clarified, "Licensed medical personnel employed at this hospital." Gemma just nodded and thanked her before tugging Priestly with her.

As the two women exited the neonatal care ward, Gemma asked her harshly, "What the hell was that?"

Priestly scoffed at the woman who had practically raised her with Tig and answered, defending herself, "I didn't do anything. I wanted to make sure no one missed anything, and then I answered the b- Tara's question." It was Priestly's turn to receive a heavy gaze.

But the brunette didn't bend, holding strong as they exited the hospital. Clay was sitting on a bench a few yards away, smoking. He made no move, letting the SAMCRO females hash out their own problems.

Gemma sighed, relenting on the younger woman, "I don't like her being back either, but if she's nervous, she might mess up."

Shaking her head, Priestly told the Queen, "She's only assisting. Dr. Namid will be the lead on the surgery. The file tells me that Namid is good, that he knows exactly what he is doing. And surgeons are trained to leave the world outside the OR. Besides, if Namid thinks for a moment that Tara is letting anything affect her performance, he'll send her out and have the other resident on standby come in to assist."

Priestly ran a hand through her hair, tousling the straightened chocolate locks a bit. She took a calming breath and reassured the new grandmother, "Hospitals have contingency plans. Because despite training and rules, life happens. Abel will be fine, Gemma. He's a Teller, he won't go down without one hell of a fight."

Her last sentence made the older woman smile, and she finally decided, "I think you deserve the rest of the night off."

* * *

><p>If she hadn't known Wendy Case was a junkie, it was more than clear now. She'd managed to convince Gemma not to come and try cleaning up the pig-sty that Wendy lived in. Instead, Priestly was doing it. She'd started with the blood on the kitchen floor, then the dishes piled in the sink. Priestly had also found the bitch's stash and flushed it, despite wanting to leave it so Wendy could be charged.<p>

She'd gotten all the dishes done, cleaned the cabinets before even considering putting the clean dishes in them, cleaned out the pantry and made a list of groceries, cleaned the fridge and freezer out, mopped, and scrubbed the counters. By the time she finished in the kitchen, she swore it was an entirely different room.

Priestly was a third of the way through picking up the junk and dirty laundry that was coating the living room, and a half of the way through a bottle of whiskey, when Jax walked through the front door. She glanced over her shoulder, momentarily panicking that Gemma had decided to come over. It wasn't much better that it was the new father, but it was better than Gemma- who would have given her the lecture of the century.

Dropping her handful of laundry onto the growing pile, she asked, "What are you doing here, Jax?" If she hadn't just spend several hours cleaning, she wouldn't have been so short with her best friend, and technically the home owner.

Jax leant on the writing desk right in the front of the living room, pulling his gloves off as he answered, "It's my house, _Carson_."

The brunette scoffed and resumed cleaning up, shooting back, "That isn't what I meant, _Jackson_. You've been living at the clubhouse, the junkie's been living here. So, I repeat, what are you doing here?"

The pair let silence fall for a moment, Priestly busy picking up dirty clothes, and putting trash in a garbage bag, while Jax just watched his childhood friend doing what Wendy should have done from day one. After a few moments of silence, Jax finally gave her an answer, "I came to see the damage. But you've obviously taken care of that already."

Smiling slightly, Priestly paused and glanced over at him, admitting, "Gem told me how she found this place. And I didn't want you to bring your son home to something that looks more like my dad's place than a family home."

"That's if I bring him home." Jax shrugged and looked away from the brunette, who stood up, frowning at him. Stopping her cleaning once more, she moved to lean against the desk next to him.

She sighed and told him, "Jax, I looked at Abel's file. I'll admit, he doesn't have the greatest odds in the world. But there have been cases far worse who've made amazing recoveries. And Doctor Namid knows what he is doing. I already told your mom, Tara doesn't actually perform the surgery, she's just assisting. Namid is the NeoNatal surgeon, and from the file he put together, he's probably the best at St. Thomas."

Priestly looked over to see Jax looking at the wall, one of his infamous 'yeah right' smirks on his face. Standing off the desk, she moved into the VP's line of vision and spoke firmly to him, "Jackson Nathaniel Teller, you listen to me right now. That baby is fighting to live right now, and you are the only thing he's got. Wendy is a useless junkie cunt. If you don't start acting right, I can promise you, that little boy, who needs you more than anything, is fighting for nothing. Do not make that child fight for nothing."

Jax didn't say anything, just watching the young woman speak with so much passion, for something she truly believed in even though she didn't have to. She was cleaning his freaking house, for him, for his son. And he wasn't sure why he was so fucking glad she was in his life at that very moment.

He sighed, ducking his head, and conceded, "Yeah, your right. I just, the way everything is going-"

"Is temporary." Priestly stood stubbornly, waiting for Jax to just agree with her. She knew that he was the lynch pin to SAMCRO, that if he gave up, then everything went to hell. And more than that, he was her best friend, and she wanted him safe, and that meant keeping him in the right state of mind.

She got half a smile from Jax as he revealed, "I found my dad's old journal. It's basically his manifesto, about he wanted the club to be. And what it is now, the gun running and all this violence, this isn't what he wanted for it."

The mention of John Teller knocked Priestly off balance. When Tig had first taken her in, it had been John Teller who helped him figure out how the hell to start taking care of a kid. He'd treated her like a part of the family right from the get-go, and when he had died, it had hurt Priestly as much as anyone else. Not only had John been like an uncle to her, but his death had such an impact on Jax. A negative one, something that Priestly hated to see.

Jax saw the shift in demeanor in the strong willed woman who took so much after his mother. Using her silence to his benefit he told her, "I just want this town safe for my son, for my family."

As she regained her footing, Priestly returned to her place next to Jax, confiding in him, "I do too, you know. It's why I went to medical school. I want to have that power to keep you- to keep my whole family safe. Look, whatever happens, whatever you do, I am completely behind you, Jax. You know that, right?"

Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he hugged her towards him, her head resting on his shoulder as Jax told her, "Yeah, I know."

The pair of them stayed like that for a good two minutes, Jax looking around and realizing just how much work Priestly had done, while Priestly just enjoyed being close to him for whatever time she had. Because she was terrified now that things were changing.

There would be some kind of war, however small, with the Mayans over the theft, Tara was back in town, and the club would be struggling to find a new storage facility. But one of Priestly's main concerns was Tara. Like Gemma, Priestly hadn't trusted Tara the first time around. And she sure as hell didn't trust the bitch now. Because it had been Priestly who had been there to see Jax fall apart. It had been her best friend who's life fell apart before her eyes, and him with it.

And no way in hell was it going to happen again. Not while she was breathing. It was for selfish purposes, that she protected Jax; Priestly hated how much it hurt her to see one of the most important people in her life get hurt the way Tara had hurt Jax.

Her phone vibrated on the table in the kitchen, breaking the trance the pair had fallen into. Priestly pulled away from Jax and moved into the kitchen quickly, seeing the screen brightly declaring her dad had sent her a text.

She dragged her finger over the screen, bringing the full message from the notorious womanizer who was her adoptive father. '_Did you throw my ramen noodles away?_' Priestly couldn't help but roll her eyes, before typing out quickly '_Yes- too much sodium. There is a container with leftover lasagna from a couple nights ago- microwave with lid off for 15 seconds.' _

As she hit send, she became immediately aware that Jax was standing behind her, closer than normal. She turned around and was practically pressed against him, and suddenly, the highly confident Priestly was completely unsure of what to do. So she managed to get out without stammering, "That was, um, nothing."

Jax gave her an amused look, then held up the half-empty bottle of Jack. Giving her friend a sheepish smile, she admitted, "I needed a little stress release."

The answer made the blonde male snort in an attempt to hold back laughter at how embarrassed the normally brazen medic was. Priestly had never been shy that she drank, but at the moment she seemed a little embarrassed to be caught.

An hour later, though, neither were embarrassed, but both were plenty drunk. And both were still in desperate need of stress relief.

* * *

><p>Mechanics and bikers alike were walking on eggshells at Teller-Morrow Automotive. No one wanted to say the wrong thing to Priestly, who was currently in a very foul mood. Gemma wouldn't let her go to the hospital to see Abel before his surgery. Instead, she had to stay at the shop and do both her job and Gemma's. While, yes, she did understand, it didn't make it any less upsetting for her. And to add to that, Priestly was hungover and severely regretting her actions from the previous night.<p>

She'd left, like she always did. Priestly's memory of the night was fuzzy at best, but she was a smart girl, she could put enough pieces together to fill in her own blanks. And they were not things she wanted to discuss or confront. Which, in turn, left her in a terrible mood.

When Clay, Jax, Bobby, and Tig returned around noon from their meeting with Darby, they were quickly warned to stay away from her by the rest of the staff who had suffered through her mood all morning. It was Tig who was volunteered to go and talk to his daughter.

But it didn't make much difference who he was when he walked into the office and flopped onto the worn out, plaid couch in front of the desk Priestly was brooding at. The brunette looked up from the paperwork she had been scribbling at and snapped, "Aren't you supposed to be working?" Tig raised an eyebrow at his daughter, but stayed silent as she let out a frustrated breath and dropped her head onto the stack of paperwork, grumbling, "Sorry. Today's not a good day."

Chuckling slightly, he accepted, "I get that. So, why exactly are you terrorizing the lot today?"

Priestly propped her chin up and looked at her father, sighing, "Gemma wouldn't let me go to the hospital with her. Said she was worried I'd freak the doctors and surgeons out. And I'm hungover. And I got only, like, two hours of sleep. And the fucking Mayans, and stupid Tara is back. So, I repeat, it is not a good day."

Tig gave her a sympathetic smile before getting up and telling her, "Finish that paperwork up, then go get some sleep-"

"Can't." She pushed her upper body half up with her arms as she told the biker, "I'm already behind on paperwork, and with Gemma out today, I'm even more behind. If everyone could just do their own fucking paperwork today, that would put me in a slightly better mood, though."

The older biker sighed, but left, knowing that Priestly wasn't going to go anywhere from the look on her face. It was one of the advantages of having raised the stubborn brunette. Tig Trager had learned very early on that it was better for him to figure out what kind of mood she was in. And Priestly had specific tells for her moods. The slight scrunch of her nose and her nails tapping against the desk told him that she was determined to finish her work.

Priestly watched her dad leave, and she did feel a little bad that she hadn't listened to his concerned suggesting for her to get some sleep, but it was true that she had a lot of paperwork. And it would help her out severely if other people did their own paperwork. Staring blankly at the door for another few moments, the club doctor remembered that it would all get better. Because it always did. It had to.

She got another solid half-hour of work done before someone else interrupted her. This time it was the last person she wanted to see at the moment- Jax. He leant against the door as he closed it, not even bothering to get close to her. Priestly didn't look up at him, she just kept working on the stack of paperwork as she asked nonchalantly, "What's up, Jax?"

"So we're basically pretending nothing happened?" Her blue eyes flicked up at him. He looked stoic, and it was hard for her to tell is he was mad at her or if he was mad at the world. And he had reasons for both, honestly.

Putting her pen down, she leant back in her chair, arms crossed over her bare stomach as she sighed, "I dunno. I mean, we were drunk and stressed. You have enough shit going on, I thought it'd be easier."

Jax studied her before asking, "Easier for who?"

Priestly smiled sadly. It probably was easier for her, to not risk herself getting hurt. It was why she always left when they were asleep, why she never gave them a real name or number, why her dates were built on lies from the get-go.

She ran a hand through her hair and answered him, "For me. I didn't want to loose my best friend over one night clouded by whiskey-fueled decisions. So, let's just forget it, alright?"

Jax pursed his lips, giving off the very obvious vibe he did not agree, but he knew Priestly well enough to know outright arguing wasn't the way to change her mind. But he did know the one thing he could do to get her to talk about it. So he gave her a short nod and left.

The rest of the day left both of them in worse moods.

* * *

><p>Priestly handed the syringe to Gemma discreetly, before heading towards the NeoNatal ward, determined to find out how Abel was actually doing. The boys were 'on a trip', which was all she was told despite her nagging. And Gemma was… 'talking' to Wendy. Which gave her the opportunity to find out about the premature infant.<p>

Her timing was perfect, she reached the ward as Tara was exiting a door, still in her operating scrubs. The shorter brunette immediately saw Priestly and told her, "His surgery was successful."

She became visibly more relaxed at hearing the word 'successful'. Running a hand through her hair and tousling it slightly, Priestly asked, "Any complications beyond what was already there?"

Tara shrugged and gave her the gist, "Nothing we weren't prepared for or anticipated. While his case isn't common, it's not something never seen before. He crashed mid-way through, but we were expecting that and honestly, if it hadn't happened, that'd be concerning."

Priestly smiled and nodded, knowing exactly what Tara meant. It was one of the strangest things about cardiovascular surgeries. While hearing the flatline was always a concern, hearing it in heart surgery once was hoped for. It meant that the nerve endings and muscle tissue were able to recognize foreign material.

After a moment in silence, Tara spoke up, on an entirely different topic, "I didn't come back to Charming for Jax." Priestly looked up, staring at the surges with a mix of suspicious and mild loathing. Tara winced again but continued, "I didn't. I came back because I needed to take care of my dad's stuff, and the job here. The hospital in Chicago was too stressful- I mean, I watched too many people loose their kids just because they didn't have the money, or the right insurance, and the hospitals wouldn't let us help until that help was paid for. I didn't miss Charming as much as I missed a smaller town."

Tilting her chin up slightly, Priestly observed Dr. Tara Knowles before asking, "Then why did you request to assist on Abel's case?"

"I owed Jax that much. What I did was terrible, I know that. The least I could do was make sure his son had every chance at life," Tara admitted. Priestly knew she meant it, which was the only reason she didn't scoff.

Deciding it was time to drop it, Priestly sighed, "Yeah, well, I appreciate that. Because you _do_ owe him that. He fell apart when you up and left. I almost lost my best friend, and I will **not** let that happen again. Is that clear?"

The threat and venom practically dripped from her voice. Priestly looked as terrifying as her words suggested her actions would be if Tara tried anything. And they made the doctor wince, but she nodded, before offering weakly, "I can take you to see Abel. Gemma has you listed as the 'Godmother' which, here, makes you family."

Priestly's icy demeanor didn't thaw as she nodded, allowing the brunette surgeon to lead her to Abel's room, before she scurried off. Priestly watched her leave, before slipping into the room, tugging at the sleeve of her teal cropped top. She hadn't managed to get home to change before heading to work that morning, or after leaving; Priestly had run an errand for Gemma before getting to the hospital.

She picked the file up from the metal wall-mounted file holder, glancing over it. Satisfied, Priestly returned it to it's place before moving over to the incubator and speaking quietly to the infant inside, "You're a very lucky little boy, Abel Teller. Your dad is the most amazing man I know, and he loves you even if he hasn't seen you yet. And you have the biggest family in all of Charming. We may not be blood, but we love each other, no matter what."

Abel made a cooing sound almost as a response, and Priestly smiled lovingly down at the small child. He didn't need to be blood to be family, and he didn't need to be hers for him to love him already.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note:<strong> Hello! Finally, the first chapter is done! I know it took a while, and I'm sorry about that. But I hope it is worth it! If you guys have any questions, shoot me a message! Until them, reviews, comments, concerns, likes, faves, I love them all!


End file.
